Blazing Birthday
by SkulY2K
Summary: Blaze is trying to relax on the beach, but Marine has other plans for her. My first story uploaded to this site AND my first Sonic the Hedgehog fic.


The waves gently broke on the shore, making a pleasant sound. Blaze inhaled slowly and deeply, breathing in the fresh scent of the ocean. She held it for a moment, and then released it. She felt completely relaxed, sitting in the sfhade of a palm tree witfh her back against its trunk. She had her boots off with one leg stretched out in front of her, the other bent fwith the knee pointing up. Her hand rested on her bent knee, holding the blue Sol Emerald.

She sighed lightly as memories came back. It was the exact same blue as an old friend who she hadn't seen for several months; the speedy hedgehog, Sonic. And of course, there was his young friend, Tails, the mechanical genius. She certainly missed them, but there was someone else who she missed even mfore.

Blaze closed her eyes, leaned her head against the tree trunk and thought of her first true friend, Cream the Rabbit. A small smile appeared as she remembered spotting Cream peering at her over a bush, doing a terrible job of hiding herself. It was hard to miss those two huge eyes. The eyes were what Blaze loved most about her young rabbit friend – big, bright, chestnut-brown and full of life.

It had taken a while for Blaze to get used to Cream being overly-friendly towards her, but she gradually grew to enjoy the younger girl's company. Blaze was thankful she met Cream, one reason being that she had introduced her to Sonic, although admittedly, the hedgehog and cat's first meeting wasn't exactly friendly.

The feline opened her eyes and put away the Sol Emerald. She hoped Cream was alright and couldn't help but wonder what her friend was doing right now. What she wouldn't give to see her again.

Blaze's head unconsciously turned left and she stared into space, thinking.

A few minutes later, she heard the muffled footsteps of someone running across the sand behind her. The footsteps stopped nearby and without looking Blaze could tell who her visitor was.

"Marine…" Blaze said flatly without turning to face the out-of-breath raccoon.

"Hi, mate! Oi've been lookin' all over for ya!" chirped Marine.

"What do you want?" asked Blaze, still facing away.

Marine gave the back of Blaze's head a slightly annoyed look, "Well, that's a foine howdy-doody. Y'know, when someone says 'hi' to ya, usually you say 'hi' back."

Blaze rolled her eyes, "Fine. 'Hi back'."

Marine shook her head, "Oh, mate," she sighed with an amused smile.

The lilac princess turned her head slightly towards the young raccoon and looked at her from the corner of her eye, "I assume there's a reason you're here?"

"Yeah," said Marine, putting her hands behind her back and walking fully into Blaze's view. She smiled at the lavender feline.

Blaze looked at her and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for Marine to continue.

"Oi know somethin' special about you," said the raccoon, a musical tone creeping into her voice.

Marine thought for a moment, "Well, actually, oi know quite a few special things about you," she brought her hand in front of her and tapped one finger, "Let's see. First off, oi know you're a princess."

"Marine…"

"Second, you can control foire," she tapped another finger.

"Marine."

"Third, you—"

"Marine!" said Blaze loudly. The raccoon stopped and looked at her, innocently.

Blaze closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself, "Get to the point, please."

Marine raised an eyebrow, "Third, you got a short temper," she saw Blaze glaring at her, "Orright, orright! Well… oi 'appen to know it's your birthday today."

Blaze straightened up and turned to fully face Marine, a shocked and slightly angry look on her face, "How did you know that?" her expression darkened, "Did Gardon tell you?"

"Well… yeah, oi asked 'im a few months ago."

Blaze sighed in irritation and looked away, "I'm going to kill him," she muttered.

"'Ey, you dan't need to get as mad as a cut snake, mate."

"I prefer to keep such things private."

"Oh, you shouldn't keep your _birthday_ of all things a secret."

Blaze said nothing.

Marine walked towards her and then kneeled down, "Look, mate. It's your birthday. You shouldn't be sittin' out 'ere all by yourself."

"I've spent most of my birthdays alone," replied Blaze, looking at Marine again.

"Well, this one ain't gonna be one of 'em. Come on, get up. We can 'ave a li'l party at my place."

"No."

"Please? Oi got ya presents and everythin'!"

"Well, you should've brought them with you."

"Oi didn't know where you were! Oi'm not gonna run around everywhere carryin' parcels. Oi'd look loike a roight drongo!"

"That's your problem."

"Come _on_! If you dan't come with me, you won't get your presents."

Blaze closed her eyes and rested her head on the tree trunk again, "Well, I guess I won't get my presents, then," she said, not sounding too bothered.

Marine stood up and looked away, wistfully, "In that case, oi guess oi'll just 'ave to stay 'ere and annoy you until you say 'yes'."

Blaze looked at her, _What!_

Marine started to 'la-la' a song, sounding terribly off-key.

The feline groaned and passed a hand over her face, "Alright, alright, I'll come," she said sourly, looking away.

"There ya go!"

Blaze stood up and brushed the sand off the bottom of her feet, "But only for a short while."

"Oh, oi think you'll be stayin' a bit longer than that," smiled Marine as Blaze put her boots on. The feline glanced at her, wondering what she meant.

.

The two girls walked side-by-side.

"So what did you get me?" asked Blaze.

"Ah, that's a surproise!" replied Marine, smirking.

"I hate surprises…"

Marine suppressed a giggle, "Part of the fun is not knowin', mate."

"I don't do 'fun'."

"Yeah, oi noticed," said the young raccoon, cocking an eyebrow at the feline. Blaze ignored her.

They walked along in silence for a while, then Marine asked, "Blaze, you loike chokkie, roight?"

"Chocolate?"

"Yeah."

The princess shrugged, "I've had it every now and then. I guess it's nice."

"'You guess it's noice'? It's one o' the best things in the world!"

"I suppose for some. Why do you ask?"

"Well, oi didn't know what koinda cake you'd loike, so oi decided to go with chocolate."

Blaze looked at her, "You got me a birthday cake?"

"Yeah, 'course. Well, got? Eh… koinda."

Blaze frowned, but decided not to press the matter. She guessed she wouldn't get a straight answer out of the raccoon.

.

After a few minutes, they were outside Marine's front door.

"Roight, go on in, Blaze," said the raccoon, a little louder than usual.

"It's unlocked?" asked Blaze, her brow furrowing at the sudden increased volume of her young friend's voice.

"Yeah. Oi dan't usually need to lock it," replied Marine, her voice back at its normal level.

Blaze pushed the handle and, sure enough, the door opened. She hadn't gone more than a few steps when a group of koalas popped out from behind doors and various pieces of furniture.

"SURPRISE!"

The lilac princess was taken aback by the Coconut Crew's sudden appearance and loud yells. They all smiled warmly at her and Blaze found herself blushing, not used to so much attention. She kept her eyes downward.

"Surproise, mate!" beamed Marine.

"Marine, what is this?" Blaze whispered out of the side of her mouth.

The raccoon clasped her friend's hand and patted it, "S'okay, mate. Dan't worry."

She looked at one of the koalas, "Setter, go 'n' get the cake."

"Sure thing," replied Setter, hurrying through a door into the kitchen.

"And dan't forget to loight the candles, ya drongo!" Marine called after him, playfully.

After a few moments, the kitchen door opened again and the koala walked out, carrying a cake with fifteen lit candles. Muzy stepped forward, strummed his guitar and they all started singing _Happy Birthday_.

Blaze blushed furiously, unsure of where to place her gaze. Marine squeezed her hand and the feline squeezed back, feeling a little better.

After the song, Marine led her friend to the cake. It was a classic round cake, made of chocolate.

"Orright, Blaze. Make a wish, then blow out the candles."

"A wish?"

"Yeah. Birthday wish. Anythin' you want. You never know… it moight come true. Make sure you dan't tell anyone, though"

_This is ridiculous_, thought Blaze, but decided to go along with it. Before she could move, however, the young raccoon placed a hand on her chest.

"And no wishin' this doesn't 'appen again _next_ year," grinned Marine.

Looking into the soft glow of the candles, Blaze thought for a moment and then silently made her wish.

_Well… I wish I could see Cream, Sonic and Tails again…_

She took a deep breath, hesitated, then leaned forward and blew. One candle guttered, and stayed lit. She frowned and pinched the flame between her thumb and forefinger, extinguishing it. Marine and the Coconut Crew cheered and clapped.

Marine sat Blaze down on the couch, "Roight, now for your presents!"

_This is an awful lot of fuss over a birthday_, Blaze thought to herself,_ I'm one year older. So what?_

The koalas gathered around her, holding their wrapped gifts. Strangely, she started to feel a little intimidated. Marine noticed her discomfort and waved them all back, "Look, she can only concentrate on one at a toime. I want you to loine up, youngest first."

"Well, _you're_ the youngest 'ere, Marine," Kylok pointed out.

"Yeah, but oi'm goin' last, 'cause you always save the _best_ 'til last."

"Little Miss Superiority," he muttered, smiling.

"Huh. You got no oidea what oi got 'er."

"Exactly."

Marine put her hands on her hips, "What's that supposed ta… oh, never moind. Just all o' ya loine up."

They did so, each giving their gifts and cards and Blaze receiving them politely. Marine seemed more interested in what the feline's gifts were than Blaze, herself, urging her to unwrap the presents quicker.

"C'mon, mate! Just tear it off!... Ooh, what's that?... That looks noice... Where'd you get that from, Muzy?... Hey, that looks cool! Moight get one o' them, myself..."

A few minutes later, Blaze placed the last gift next to the others beside her. She was surprised that they had all gone to the trouble of buying her something.

"You really all didn't have to do this," she said, looking down.

"Dan't be daft, mate," said Marine, giving her shoulder a squeeze. The raccoon went to the side of the couch, reached behind it, and began pulling out a long, thin, rectangular present. She looked like she was having some trouble.

"'Ere, could one of ya maybe give me a hand?"

Daikun was the closest, so he walked over and helped Marine pull the object out. The two carried it over to the sitting princess who was looking at it strangely. The present was laid in her lap and the members of the Coconut Crew looked at each other, wondering what it was, themselves.

"What is this?" asked Blaze, looking down at the rectangular parcel.

"No oidea. Why don't you open it and foind out?" replied Marine.

Blaze slipped a finger under a loose piece of wrapping and pulled. The paper tore and she was able to see part of whatever was inside. She frowned. All she could see was a string attached to something brown. Marine looked at it, herself.

"Eh? Oh, that's the back. Let's get the wrappin' off and turn it 'round."

Marine took one end of the object, holding it in place, and Blaze managed to get the rest of the wrapping off, but not without difficulty, as Marine had put a little too much tape in some places.

Now it could be seen that it was a large picture frame. The two lifted it to see the front and Blaze's eyes widened when she saw it.

It was a picture of herself, Marine, Sonic and Tails.

"You remember havin' this taken? There's a bloke around 'ere who can do stuff with pictures, so oi asked 'im if 'e could make the picture bigger. 'E did it no problem."

Her eyes looking over the faces of the fox and the hedgehog, Blaze nodded. She remembered the picture being taken. She didn't much like cameras, but agreed to be in the shot.

"Heh. Look at you, Blaze. Standin' there with your arms crossed. With such a _big_ smoile, too," said Marine, giving her a friendly poke with her elbow.

Blaze looked at her still self. True, she stood there, body turned slightly away from the camera, arms crossed, with her usual expressionless face. She glanced at the others in the picture. Sonic stood with a big grin, giving a thumbs up; Tails, who was in mid-wave, was also smiling; Marine, of course, was wearing a toothy grin, too. Blaze felt slightly guilty for looking so emotionless.

"Give us one now," said Marine, looking at her, "I bet you've got a really beautiful smoile."

"I don't feel comfortable just _smiling_. It's not something I do."

The raccoon nodded, understanding, "Orright. If you dan't wanna, then you dan't wanna. But 'ere, that's not all I got ya."

Marine turned to the Coconut Crew, "Could a couple o' you blokes take that picture and put it in my room?"

Tabby and Muzy volunteered, taking the picture off the two girls and made their way to Marine's room.

"Now then…" the raccoon reached into her pocket and produced a small, long, slender box. The young raccoon handed it to the lilac princess, "'Ope you loike it."

Blaze lifted the lid off and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw what was contained. Inside, lying in soft, white packing, was a solid gold pendant in the shape of a flame with a small, red jewel in the centre.

Mouth agape, she looked up at Marine, "How did you afford this?"

"Oh, oi've been savin' up for a whoile. Didn't know what oi was gonna be buyin', but oi figured that since it was your birthday, oi'd spend it on you and get you somethin' special. Oi saw that pendant, and you instantly came to moind, mate."

Blaze felt it rude to ask, but she had to know, "Marine… how much…?"

The raccoon put her hand on her hip and thought, "That? Eh…" she raised her other hand and tilted it side-to-side, "…It was abou'… fifteen 'undred? Yeah, just a bit over that."

"What?" gasped Blaze, along with koalas.

"Oi've still got the receipt if you dan't loike it," said Marine, pointing her thumb over her shoulder.

"Oh no, no, it's wonderful… I just… I'm surprised you…" Blaze sighed and shook her head, lost for words.

"Stop worryin' 'bout it. Let's just get this on you," Marine lifted the pendant and slipped it over the princess's head. Once the jewelry was resting around the feline's neck, she stepped back and smiled, "Yeah, looks noice on you."

She then took Blaze by the hand, "There's a mirror over 'ere. 'Ave a look at it."

The feline allowed herself to be led over to the mirror hanging on the wall. Marine looked at her, waiting for her response.

Blaze's hand reached up to touch the pendant, her finger stroking the finely crafted golden flame. She looked at her young friend for a moment and then embraced her, "Thank you, Marine."

"No worries, mate," replied the raccoon, returning the embrace.

Blaze then had a peculiar feeling come over her, "Excuse me a moment," she said and made her way to the bathroom.

"Dan't take too long, we'll be cutting your cake in a minute."

Closing the door behind her, Blaze leaned on it. Her thoughts ran through everything that had happened and she felt her eyes begin to water. To her shock and slight annoyance, a quiet sob escaped her, along with a tear. Irritably, she wiped it away. What was going on? She wasn't _crying_ was she? She felt the corners of her mouth being pulled down by invisible threads and two more tears rolled down her cheeks.

She _was_ crying. But why? She didn't feel overly emotional and she certainly wasn't sad. Blaze took a deep breath. She was overwhelmed by the experience, that's what it was. Nothing like this had ever happened to her, before; she wasn't used it.

She made her way over to the sink and splashed her face with cold water. After drying her fur and straightening it out, she felt better. Before she left, Blaze looked at the pendant in the bathroom mirror and smiled briefly. Then her face turned expressionless again and she walked out, back to her first real birthday party.

The first thing she saw was Marine carefully holding a knife in her hands. The raccoon turned to Blaze, hearing her approach, "Orright, toime to cut the cake, eh?"

Marine held the knife out to her, handle first, holding it on the sides of the blade, "Since it's _your_ cake, oi think you should get to make the first cut."

Blaze took the knife and stood with it, looking uncertainly at the bladed utensil.

"What's wrong?" asked Marine, frowning.

"Uh… this is probably going to sound kind of dumb, but… is there… is there a _special_ way you cut a birthday cake?"

"Hm? Nah, you just do what you would normally. Y'know, a few cuts down the middle, give everybody a fair sloice…"

Blaze nodded and began awkwardly slicing.

.

A few awkward cuts later, everybody had a plate with a slice of cake on it.

"Oi _know_ you'll enjoy it. Oi made it myself, y'know," Marine thumped herself on the chest.

Blaze looked at her, "Really?"

"Yup. All by myself."

Kylok cleared his throat loudly.

"Oh, and Kylok 'elped. A bit," shrugged Marine.

"Yeah, roight. Oi 'ad to do most of it."

"…Well, whatever. It came out foine and that's the important thing, ain't it?"

"Marine, you're impossible…" said Kylok, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

They all agreed the cake _was_ good.

.

Soon, everyone was up and dancing to the most generic party music ever. _Almost_ everyone.

"Blaze, c'mon. 'Ave a little dance with us," said Marine to the feline who had gone back to sitting on the couch. She nodded her head towards the center of the room where the Coconut Crew were either dancing badly or standing and talking, "It'll be fun."

"…I can't dance," Blaze responded.

"Everyone can dance, 'even' you," said Marine, grabbing the princess's hands and hauling her up. She then began to 'bounce' a little and swung her arms left and right, keeping her grip tight.

She felt a little self-conscious at first, but Blaze eventually began to enjoy herself, although she only allowed the smallest of smiles to touch her lips.

The party continued until a little after two in the morning, by which time most of the older Coconut Crew members were a finding it hard to walk straight, either due to tiredness or one too many alcoholic beverages.

The two girls bid them goodnight, the koalas wishing Blaze a happy birthday once more as they left.

Soon, it was just the raccoon and the cat. Marine yawned and sat in a seat on her front porch, Blaze following suit, without the yawn.

Sipping the last of their drinks, the two sat in silence for a few minutes, until Blaze spoke, "Marine?"

"Hm?"

"I… want to say thanks. Thanks for doing this. I've never had something like this happen to me, before. I know I might have seemed unappreciative at times, but I really did enjoy myself."

Reaching over, Marine patted her friend's hand, "Ah, it was nothin' mate. Glad ya enjoyed yerself."

"Just don't bother doing it again next year…" said Blaze, warningly.

"Yeah. Okay," said the raccoon, looking out over the sea. A mischievous smirk formed on her lips and she glanced sideways at Blaze, who frowned at her.

"Marine…"

Marine said nothing and sipped her drink.

The lilac feline gave a defeated sigh and watched the rippling reflection of the moon on the dark surface of the ocean.

_Oh, I just can't _wait_ 'til next year…_


End file.
